The Keys to Being Stylish with What You Have

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You wake up so happy, drink a cup of coffee in your pjs, meditate, have breakfast while watching your favorite show, then your best friend or significant other text you to go have brunch and you think this is going to be an awesome day. You get in the shower, prep your face, put on some make up and do your hair, ohhh look how pretty you look. Now, you go into your closet and keep looking at your same old clothes. Why did you even buy that blouse? It’s ugly as hell! You’d rather die than let anybody see you repeat that awesome dress you have. You end up so frustrated that you don’t have anything good or even bearable to wear that you don’t even want to go out anymore. Now, you’re day is one of the worst days ever and know that it will happen again tomorrow, the next day and the following day until you spend some of your hard earned money in new clothes. But let me tell you… It doesn’t have to be like that.

Believe me, you have no idea how many times I felt this way because I had nothing to wear and didn’t want to leave my apartment without looking fabulous. We all have been there and we all know is a super awful feeling, mostly when you have bills to pay, and hey, a girl’s gotta eat!

Many of you have asked how I can create different outfits everyday while claiming that I don’t spend money on clothes. And that’s true; I only spend like $100 bucks every other month, sometimes even only $50 bucks. In this blog post, I’m going to share with you the keys to follow for when you love fashion but can’t blow your money on things that are not that important. There are a few secrets that are not so secret anymore, some that are not that well known and some tips of my own. I guess most of us have been on the phase of “I don’t have anything to wear” when in reality we have a closet full of clothes. Today I hope to help you solve that problem and end that mindset.

So follow these tips, and you’ll be able to create different outfits more easily.

Clean out your closet.

One of the reasons we don’t find clothes we actually want to wear is because we still have in our closet clothes from years ago that don’t fit anymore and things that don’t bring joy to us. So take absolutely everything out from your closet and put back what you actually wear. Believe me, this will make getting ready in the morning so much easier as you can see what you have more easily. I did this a few weeks ago and it’s a game changer. If you don’t even know how to start, begin with the things you haven’t worn in the last three months or more, and have three empty boxes on hand:

Box 1. Put everything that is out of season. Summer clothes you love but that in no way you’re going to wear over the fall and winter.

Box 2. Put what you like in this box but it’s out style and you have the hope that it’ll come back. I have saved so many pieces (like denim mini skirts) that I now wear on the regular, and they have saved me from purchasing new ones!

Box 3. In this box, place what you don’t like at all. This box will go to charity to help people in need.

Now, put the things you want back in your closet by color coordination (rainbow) and put everything together by type.

You need basics.

Another reason you don’t know what to wear is because you don’t have the essential basics to mix and match or combine with your trendy pieces. I’m sure that most of you can relate that when you get dressed in the morning, most of the time, you grab the same top and the same bottom you always grab for that top and wear that combination together all the time. However, the reason sometimes we don’t go out of that combination is simply because we don’t have the basics to pull together other outfits. Basics are a necessity because they will help you pull other outfits together. Make sure you have those items and that they fit properly so you can rotate them with different pieces. They’ll definitely give a lot of versatility to your closet.

Pieces that can be worn three different ways.

From now on when you’re about to purchase something, follow the rule of thumb that if you can’t think of three ways to wear it before you hit checkout, it shouldn’t be part of your wardrobe. It won’t offer any versatility and it’s just going to add to that clutter that you had before and create the “I have nothing to wear” cycle again.

Be careful for what you shop.

Only purchase pieces you love. Some of you might be like “but of course”, but believe me, there’s a lot of people that buy clothes that they don’t like just because they’re trendy or on sale. So don’t purchase things that are going to make you feel whatever or not confident. In short, only buy what brings you joy because those are the things that you’re going to want to wear, you’re going to feel good when you wear them and those are the things you’re going to want to create more outfits for as result. Also, when you start collecting many trendy pieces, your wardrobe is going to be outdated sooner than later and you’ll have a closet full of pieces that you can’t wear.

Tailor ill-fitting clothes.

One thing that comes into consideration for not having anything to wear in our closet is sizing. Many of us have fluctuated in weight in our life; we have gone up or down and have purchased clothing to accommodate that period in our life. Either you have kept that large or smaller size in case you might need them in the future. This is a good idea so you don’t have to invest in clothes when your weight changes, but when you leave multiple sizes in your closet, the reality is when you try to put an outfit together you’re going to look at a rack of clothing in front of you that you can’t actually wear. Either go to a tailor or put those pieces in box 2, but never keep them in your closet when they don’t fit properly. You’ll have a better picture of what you can actually wear.

All about accessories.

Accessories are like the icing on the cake as they finish off an outfit and give a little more personality. They completely change the look to corky to very elegant and from day to night. It doesn’t mean you have to go big and bold, always go for what feels right for you and the look you want. Group jewelry, sunglasses, watches and other small accouterments by style and weight so it’ll be easier to see and select once you’re dressed.